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Monday, July 15, 2013

[Double Review]: "Making It Last"

We've done it again--two reviews in one post! Surprisingly, this time it's Kame who provides the quotes; I marked a few down while reading this one, but none of them made it into my review. Huh. Promise, next time there will be quotes galore again, as I'm such a shameless QuoteHussy! :)Let us know what you think of our double review in the comments -- do you want to see more posts like this?

Making It Last by Ruthie Knox

Publisher: Loveswept (July 15, 2013)

Series: Camelot, 4

Genre: Contemporary Romance

RITA finalist Ruthie Knox returns with a brand-new eBook original novella, the finale of her delightfully sexy Camelot series!

A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment — just one — where life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone.

Only she won’t be alone long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s only got a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.

We first meet Amber and Tony in How to Misbehave, and have seen snippets of them in the other Camelot books. In Making It Last Amber and Tony have been married for ten years and have three active boys. Their life is not what they dreamed what it would be way back when they fell in love.Money is tight, Amber works hard at keeping her family happy and Tony works long hours to keep his business running and provide for his family. The stress is taking its toll and Amber’s Mom encourages Amber and Tony to take a few days to themselves; Tony feels he can’t get away from work, if he loses the contract he might lose their house and keeping a roof over his family’s head is his top priority.That is until his oldest son questions if Mom will ever come home.

“Amber was getting smaller. Taking up less and less space inside the house, inside herself.”

This novella is incredible! This is what goes on after you finish the last page of the romance book and there is a HEA, this is marriage - this is long lasting love but with realism. It is not always the lure of someone else that challenges a marriage, sometimes it is life itself; and I applaud Ruthie Knox for taking this challenging aspect of a HEA on. There were times I sighed, times I cried, and there were times I swore I was reading about myself. Ruthie Knox made the characters work for their relationship and not just fix everything with roses and champagne. I adored Amber and Tony’s inner dialogs, and their honesty with each other. Tears were in my eyes this whole novella.I love this couple; they are easily in my top five favorite couples of all time. If there is a Camelot #5 I hope we see them thriving in their stronger relationship.

“He didn’t believe leaving could ever be an act of grace. He thought the acts of grace happened when you stayed. When you found something you thought you’d lost, gave something you’d forgotten you had, got something back that you didn’t even know you needed.”

So happy I got the privileged of reading this book. This will be a book that will always live on my Kindle, and one I will come back to again and again. It may be a novella but it is easily one of the best pieces of writing I have read in 2013!

5 STARS!

Meet Kame:

Kame is part of a family of readers; one day she picked up the Nook she purchased for her husband and discovered her love of e-books. A few months later he purchased one for her so he could have his back! Kame’s Nook is never far, and she is hard pressed to pick a favorite book, genre or author. As long as there are characters that make her want to sit down and have a chat and a plot keeps the pages turning, she’ll read it.

Oh, Ruthie, I think you may have wrote the book that every mother, every wife, can relate to. I'm neither, yet I still felt the deep struggles that Amber went through in Making It Last. Giving everything you have to these people you love, yet not knowing who you are anymore. Being the one that everyone relies on, yet secretly wanting time to yourself, time to rely on someone else for a change. I have yet to experience the things that Amber has, but that didn't stop me from understanding and relating to her in the book. Simply put: thank you for writing Amber and Tony's “after the HEA” novella!

Like with all of Knox's previous books, Making It Last is very emotional (many readers say they cried; I'm rarely one to cry while I read, but I'll admit I was close a few times in this one!), very believable and real, not to mention sexy. There are a few fun, kind of light parts, but MIL is not a book that is going to make you laugh from begin to end. And that's okay, because that's not the story that needed to be told anyway.

4.5 STARS! Finally, a romance novel (er, novella) that takes place AFTER the infamous HEA, showing readers what life is like once the “I can't live without you let's make love for the rest of our lives” phase is over. Making It Last tells the story of finding love again, after years of marriage and kids and work and stress and, well, just life in general. It's the story of how Amber and Tony find each other again, as well as finding themselves a bit, too. I read it straight through, took me maybe an hour or so, and loved every minute of it! If you've read the rest of this series, you won't be disappointed! If you haven't read the previous books—what are you waiting for? Sure, you can read this one as a standalone, but you'll get a much better idea of how the couple came to this point in their life if you start with book 1. Plus, Ruthie Knox is such a talented and wonderful author that you will definitely enjoy exploring every new couple in Camelot! Now all I have to say is this: Ruthie, please write Patrick's story! Oh, and keep up the great work, I cannot wait to read your next book, no matter what it is! :D

~ * ~ * ~ Kame and I both received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for our honest opinions.*Note: The quotes used belong to Ruthie Knox; Kame and TBQ's Book Palace does not claim them. ~ * ~ * ~

Have you read Ruthie Knox? No? What are you waiting for? :D Kame and I both highly recommend this author! Annnd, because we love Ruthie's books so much, this Thursday (July 18th), Ruthie will be back on the blog! Kame is doing a giant character interview with her, including all the couples from the Camelot series. Oh, and did I mention there will be a giveaway involved, too? :D Be sure to stop by and join the fun--I think you will *love* the interview!

Enjoy!

Until Next Time,

*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

9 comments
:

You're making me think I pre-ordered that one, yay, I've received it today ! Camelot is a great series, I'm addicted to it and the fact that this one is taking place ten years after their encounter makes it so much more... real, almost. I'm so looking forward to reading it, thanks for the reviews :D

Wonderful reviews for a novel that really touched my heart. You both captured all my thoughts! Ruthie Knox is an amazing author and this story was brilliant.Thanks for the reviews, and would love to see more!

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Reviewing: Unless otherwise stated, generally the books we review on TBQ's Book Palace were sent from a publisher/author for us to review. We are not paid to review said book, We receive the book for free, and in exchange provide an honest, but accurate, review. We do not make biased reviews because we received the book free of charge.